Missionary Medicine of Canadian Presbytery and Korean Doctors under Japanese Occupation: focusing Sung-jin and Ham-heung / 의사학

In East Asia during the second half of the 19th century, overseas mission work by Protestant churches thrived. Missionaries built schools and hospitals and effectively used them for evangelism. In the 20th century when Social Gospel Movement was expanding, medical work has been recognized as a significant mission service in and by itself. This article reviewed the construction and characteristics of missions work conducted by Canadian Presbytery; missionary doctors and Korean doctors who worked at the mission hospitals; why the missionary medical work had to stop; and career paths taken by Korean doctors upon liberation from Japanese occupation. The Canadian Presbytery missionaries, unlike other denomination missionaries, were rather critical of Imperial Japan, but supportive towards Koreans. This could have stemmed from the reflection of their own experience of once a colony of British Empire and also their value system that promotes egalitarian, democratic and progressive theology. The Sung-jin and Ham-heung Mission Bases were a community, interacting organically as a 'Triangle of Church, School and Hospital.' The missionaries mobilized the graduates from Christian schools and organized a Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). Some of the graduates were trained to become medical doctors or assistants and worked at mission hospitals. Missionary doctors' approaches to balancing evangelism and medical practice varied. For example, Robert Grieson went through confusion and struggled to balance conflicting roles as a pastor for evangelism and also as a physician. Kate McMillan, on the other hand, had less burden for evangelism than Grieson, and focused on medical work by taking advantage of the opportunity that, as a woman, she can easily approach Korean women. Still another case was Florence Murray who practised evangelism within the hospital setting, and successfully carried out the role as a hospital administrator, going beyond 'women's work' as McMillan did. Korean doctors and assistants who worked at the mission hospitals had seen the spread of Protestantism in their youth; had received modern education; had experienced the fall of own country in 1910 and nationwide protest against Japan in 1919. The majority of them were graduates of Severance Medical College, the hub of missionary medicine at the time. After the resignation from the mission hospitals, 80 percent of them became self-employed general practitioners. The operations of the mission hospitals began to contract in 1930 due to tightened control by Imperial Japan. Shrine worship imposed on Christians caused internal conflict and division among missionaries and brought about changes in the form and contents of the mission organization. The incidence of the assault of Dr. Grieson brought about the dissolution of Sung-jin mission base and the interruption of the operation of Je-dong Hospital. As the Pacific War expanded, missionaries were driven out of Korea and returned home. In conclusion, the missions work by Canadian Presbytery missionaries had greatly impacted Protestantism in Korea. The characteristics of Canadian Presbytery were manifested in their support of Korean nationalism movement, openness for Social Gospel, and maintaining equal footing with Korean Christians. Specifically we note the influence of these characteristics in Chosun doctors who had worked in the mission hospitals. They operated their own hospitals or clinics in a manner similar to the mission hospitals by providing treatment for poor patients free of charge or for a nominal fee and treating the patients in a kind and humanistic way. After the 1945 Liberation, Korean doctors'career paths split into two directions. most of them defected to South Korea and chose the path to work as general practitioners. A few of them remained in North Korea and became educator of new doctors. It is meaningful that former doctors of Canadian missionary hosptal became dean of 2 medical colleges among 3 of all in early North Korea. This article does not cover the comparative analysis of the medical work by the missionaries of Canadian Presbytery and other denominations. It is desirable to include this analysis of the contents and the comparison in a future study of Korean doctors who participated in the mission hospitals, by denomination and by geographical region.

Reformation of the Medical Educational Institutes and Training of General Doctors during the Early Period of Japanese Rule / 의사학

The Japanese government downgraded a Korean medical college being attached to the Daehan hospital to a medical training center blaming upon a lack of education in Korea. But the actual curriculum and the years required for completing a course of study in the Korean medical college were equivalent to those of the Japanese medical college. Furthermore, the Japanese government discarded the financial support for medical school students. So they should pay their tuitions and other stipends by themselves. The Japanese government forced a private institute to establish an endowed school by the legal act of college. It enabled to classify a medical education system with the judicial support. For the example of Severance Medical School, it reformed faculty, curriculum and facility according to the legal standard of a college act. Therefore, Severance Medical School was able to be upgraded to a medical college. But there was a limitation even for the government schools under the colonial era. It was not possible to train important medical human resource who enabled to supervise the modern medical system in Korea. On one hand, almost every important medical human resource such as a military doctor, and a professor, who should have trained in Korea in the Great Han Period, was trained in Japan. On the other hand, fostering general doctors, who practiced medicine with hands-on experience, was the purpose of medical education in Korea whether the medical school was governmental or private. Since the purpose of Severance Medical College was to foster general doctors, it was able to grow within the colonial medical system. The purpose of medical missionaries, who promoted the spread of gospel with the western medical support, enforced the Japanese colonial logics that the Japanese government could educate and develop Korea with the introduction of western civilization. Although it was later comparing to the government medical school, Severance Medical College enabled to certify the medical license automatically to the graduates from the school. The reason that the Japanese government allowed for Severance Medical College to issue the automatic medical license was to keep the colonial structure of Japanese in Korea.

Medicine during the Enlightenment Era of the Late Yi Dynasty / 의사학

Korean people in the late Yi Dynasty were always in danger of contagious diseases due to unhealthy residence, poor food and inconvenient clothing. Closing of the country represented by traditional life style and custom did not lead Koreans to civilization. Meanwhile, some pioneers inspired by flow of new culture had stimulated politicians. At that time, these pioneers made political situation fall into disorder. But in the medical community, this gave them an opportunity to understand and introduce Western medicine. As Western medicine was introduced, medical system was revolutionized and regulations for physicians were announced. In the Royal Palace, they started to invite a Western doctor as an attendance physician. By the department of hygiene the regulations for preventing contagious diseases were established and the institution for public health was operated by government. From 1899, the hospital attached to the department of internal affairs and Red Cross Hospital were established. Moreover military medical institution was reorganized to evolve the health of the army and local medical institution had progressed to the national one by establishing Hyemin-Won. In 1872, Takada Eisaku who had learned Western medicine opened a private clinic in Choryang-Jin for Japanese merchants residing there. This clinic was considered as the first clinic in Korea which practiced Western medicine. Since then, as in 1876, Kwangwha Island Treaty was concluded and Korea opened ports, Japanese opened some clinics in Pusan, Wonsan, Hansong(Seoul) and Inchon. At that time, Korean traditional medicine was responsible for public health inherited from Koryo Dynasty influenced by Chinese medicine. Japanese compared traditional Korean medicine to Kampo herbology which abolished in Meiji Restoration and they thought it as outdated. So they established clinics of Western style to protect their own people. When they established clinics, they justified their purpose with implications of exhibition and invasion saying to develop and lead to Korea to exert itself or to conciliate and enlighten. Koreans found themselves difficult to accept their intention and instead they had an antipathy to them. Chosun government allowed an American missionary doctor, HN Allen to serve at Jejung-Won(House of Universal Helpfulness) since he had treated Young-Ik Min with excellence and trust when Min was wounded in Gapsin coup d'etat and he himself volunteered to serve for civilian health. At the same time WB Scranton, a missionary doctor of Northern methodist church, opened a clinic to take care of Korean people as a part of missionary work. Their efforts made Koreans begin to accept Western medicine. In 1895, Oliver R Avison took over Jejung-Won and in fall of 1900 Avison returned with the fund for the foundation of new hospital from Louis H Severence and he began medical education to the assistant students in full scale. He had then translate medical textbooks and trained students to acquire medical theory and clinical experience. On June 3, 1908 seven students graduated as the first graduates after 8 years of training. Supervisor directly awarded diploma at the commencement. In 1909 government authorized it as civic Severence hospital medical school. Various religious group such as Northern Presbyterian Church, Northern Methodist Church, Southern Methodist Church, Protestant Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church of Australia and Presbyterian Church of Canada sent to Korea were assigned to medical missionary hospitals by each region and began to establish hospitals in Hansong(Seoul), Pyongyang, Kaesong, Inchon, Jaeryong, Songchon, Wonsan, Hamhung, Sungjin, Kangge in the Northern region and Pusan, Taegu, Kimchon, Chinju, Kwangju, Mokpo, Kunsan, Chonju, Kongju, Chongju in the Southern region for the sake of Koreans. Although Japanese had started to build clinics of Western style, they were not considered as distributing Western medicine because it was aiming at invading Korea and protecting mainly their own people. Contrary, Koreans at that time began to evaluate the value of Western medicine from the activities of missionary doctors for Koreans. On December 22, 1895, government proclaimed the regulation to establish the Vaccinators Training Institute to teach the students the method of making smallpox vaccine and vaccination. The regulation stipulated one month of educational term but resume of graduate students indicated 5-7 months of training. The Institute was the first one that taught Western medicine by government assuming that there were both simple practice and theoretical subject. After proclaiming the establishment of the medical school(Euihak-Kyo) on March 24, 1899 the government began to gather students and opened the school in October with academic facility and faculty members. The curricula included both liberal arts and clinical medicine by following the regulation on the school. Vaccination taught in Vaccinators Training Institute was transferred as one subject. In the early period some physicians such as Ik-Nam Kim, the first Korean who learned the Western medicine in Japan and Takezi Kotake, a Japanese surgeon were in charge of teaching medicine there. Liberal arts was taught by competent instructors who were not doctors. 19 students graduated in July 1902 as the first graduates after 3 years of training and some of them remained as instructors in the school. Therefore, around 1900 Korea had two Westernized medical schools, one(Euihak-Kyo) was run by government and the other one(Jejung-Won Euihak-Kyo) by missionary society. Meanwhile, Chosun government sent the young students who had learned Japanese to study medicine abroad after they passed a certain test. Among them Ik-Nam Kim, Sang-Ho An and Chong-Won Park came back to Korea after they had become doctors in Japan. Jae-Pil Seo, being a citizen in USA, Esther Park, serving as a missionary doctor of Northern Methodist Church, Gung-Sun Oh, serving as a missionary doctor of Southern Presbyterian Church were among those who received MD degree in America. In 1905 Japanese established the Residency-General and consolidated Kwangje-Won which was the medical institution attached to the department of internal affairs, the hospital attached to Euihak-Kyo and Red Cross Hospital which was a relief agency to reorganize as Taehan Clinic mainly for Japanese residents in Korea. And soon Japanese replaced entire faculty to Japanese doctors and expelled Korean traditional doctors.